The armed wing of Hamas announced this Wednesday the death of three Israeli hostagesa 10-month-old baby, his four-year-old brother and his mother, due to “previous bombings” by Israel on the Gaza Strip, before the truce currently in force.

“Three detained Zionists died as a result of previous Zionist bombings on the Gaza Strip,” said a statement from the Al Qasam Brigades, which identified the deceased as Shiri Silverman Bibas, mother of Kfir and Ariel Bibas. The three, residents of the Nir Oz kibbutz, near Gaza, They were taken captive and taken to Gaza with the father of the family, Yardén Bibas, during the Hamas attack on October 7th.

These days, after the release of 81 hostages -61 Israelis and 20 foreigners- as part of the exchange of captive children and women for Palestinian prisoners in parallel to the truce in Gaza, there was controversy over the fact that the children and mother of the Bibas family had not been released, by being Kfir the smallest among all those kidnapped. A few days ago, relatives of the Bibas family reported that they feared for his health and asked for his release in the extension of the temporary ceasefire.

According to the Arabic spokesman for the Israeli Army, Avichai Andraee, the family had initially been kidnapped by Hamas, but was transferred to another Palestinian armed group, which would have kept it in its power in the Khan Younis area. “All the other children have already been released. We do not know where they are being held” or “anything about their condition,” said Ofri Bibas, the father’s sister and the children’s aunt, at a press conference on Tuesday.

The Israeli Army, for its part, has reported that it has informed the Bibas family of the Hamas publication, but has not yet been able to corroborate the veracity of the information. “The terrorist organization Hamas continues to act in a cruel and inhuman manner,” said a military spokesman, who stressed that all The responsability about the safety of the kidnapped “falls entirely on Hamas”.

The Israeli Army has also recalled that Hamas is still holding nine children captive and has demanded that the group “immediately return them to Israel.”